NHL Contracts: Each team’s worst deal

Chicago Blackhawks: Brent Seabrook

Contract: Six years remaining, $6.875 million average annual value, $37 million total salary remaining ($20 million signing bonus), no-movement clause through 2022, modified no-trade clause through 2024 (five-team in 2022-23, 10-team in 2023-24).

Stan Bowman has done a lot of great things for the Chicago Blackhawks. He’s a huge reason they’ve won three Stanley Cups in the 21st century. However, Bowman’s also made some very questionable deals over the past few seasons. None of them are worse than Brent Seabrook’s extension.

In September of 2015, he signed an eight-year extension worth $55 million with the Blackhawks. Once his deal went into effect in 2016, Seabrook’s play started to decline. But considering he was 31 years old at the time, this shouldn’t be surprising.

Seabrook is signed until he’s 39 years old. So unless something unforeseen happens (such as a sudden allergy to hockey equipment), the Blackhawks are stuck with him for the foreseeable future.

They can’t trade him or send him to the minors without his consent until after the 2021-22 season. Seabrook is due $9 million over the last two seasons, by the way. But if they trade him after July 1 of 2022, the other team will only be responsible for $5.5 million.

As I said earlier, if you have to start wondering “when can my team move this player’s deal?” before the ink is dry on the contract, that’s a great sign it’s a terrible contract.